How is an adjustment disorder diagnosed?

How is an adjustment disorder diagnosed?

Your healthcare provider will complete a full physical and mental health exam. They may consider the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) from the American Psychiatric Association.

To be diagnosed with adjustment disorder, you have to meet the following five DSM-5 criteria:

• Your emotional or behavioral symptoms developed within three months of the start of the stressful event in your life.
• Your emotional or behavioral symptoms are clinically significant. This means that your distress must exceed what would normally be expected and/or the distress is causing significant problems in your work, home or social life.
• Your symptoms don’t meet the criteria for another mental disorder and are not a flare-up or worsening of an existing mental health problem.
• Your symptoms are not part of a normal grieving process.
• Your symptoms don’t last more than six months after the triggering event has ended.

Acute adjustment disorder means your symptoms last less than six months. Chronic adjustment disorder means your symptoms last six months or longer.

Your healthcare provider should also take into account your cultural background in determining if your response to a stressor is in excess of what would be expected.